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Why the Japan Disaster can help Supply Chains
Before reading this feature, be sure to check this story and others in June's issue of our digital magazine. Trust us, it's way cooler!
To borrow a phrase from the movie Armageddon, the Japan disasters have the global supply chain exhibiting the behavior from the worst parts of the Bible.
Despite all of this, however, one supply chain expert thinks the effects will be felt for a relatively short period of time.
“(The disaster) has been hugely disruptive from a matter of weeks and months, but I don’t think it’s going to be disruptive in terms of quarters and years,” Joe Lawler, CEO of supply chain solutions leader ModusLink, said.
“If you’d seen this happen a quarter or two later, there might have been much bigger problems with companies getting ready for the fall cycle.”
ModusLink has a branch in Tokyo, and Lawler said that “our people on the ground there have seen (the supply chain) hugely disrupted.”
According to a study by Dun & Bradstreet’s report on the preliminary implications for the three major prefectures affected, over $200 billion in sales volume is potentially impacted by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
Automobile and electronics manufacturers have seen shockwaves sent through their supply chain as companies scramble to find alternative sources for their parts.
WHY THE JAPANESE DISASTER WILL HELP THE SUPPLY CHAIN
But could the Japan disasters actually help the global supply chain? According to Lawler, the disaster is forcing companies to more aggressively seek supply chain solutions.
“I think this whole thing will be more positive than negative,” Lawler said. “In the long run, people will get better at developing their risk plans and disaster plans to make sure they have suppliers who will be able to flex throughout certain regions.”
Lawler thinks planning goes a long way to managing risk within your supply chain, and a good lawyer can help you and your company prepare for the worst possible scenarios.
“We certainly rely on lawyers to anticipate some of the worst-case scenarios that supply chains need to anticipate,” Lawler said. “As a technology industry, you need to spend more time on going over what we’re witnessing now, and that’s why things like the tsunami can actually help the industry in the long run.”
Lawler also relies heavily on ModusLink’s optimization modeling tools, which basically comprises system of finding the most efficient way to get a product to market. The modeling tools take into account costs associated with labor, freight, customs and handling times, among other things.
ModusLink’s optimization modeling tools also enable the company to play around with different types of hypotheticals.
“We take great pride in what we call optimization modeling tools. They enable us to play around with disaster scenarios,” Lawler said. “If a facility goes down, what will be our backup plan?
According to Lawler, ModusLink has systems in place to actually see how a company’s supply chain can flex, region to region. This feature allows companies to see exactly what would happen should disaster strike, and allows businesses to go through some of the scenarios.
“That’s what we call our disaster recovery plan,” Lawler said.
WHAT SUPPLY CHAINS NEED TO DO TO PREPARE
So what actions can you take with your supply chain to make sure you’re adequately prepared to handle the risks that go with the industry?
According to Lawler, the key to managing supply chain risk starts with having more than one supplier.
“Dual sources of supply with the ability to flex are key when one of your sources has problems,” Lawler said.
According to ModusLink’s blog Value Unchained (http://blog.moduslink.com/bid/51536/Supplier-Risk-Do-You-Feel-Lucky-Enough-to-Ignore-It), other strategies to calculate risk management include a systematic assessment of risks, an assessment of the likelihood of these risks and risk prioritization and mitigation.
MAJOR TRENDS MOVING FORWARD
Despite the major current disruption to suppliers worldwide, Lawler still sticks with his original prognosis, that the supply chain industry will turn out better because of the events that have transpired with Japan.
“I’m sure there are people affected by this who wish they’d done more to prepare,” Lawler said. “But if you compare supply chains today with what they were 10 or 20 years ago, you’ll see a much more efficient model in terms of quickly rebalancing.
“Supply chains are getting longer. People want the lowest possible cost with the highest quality and the fastest time to market, but in order to do that you’ve got to be well-prepared to deal with disasters.”
- KPMG and ASCM Unveil Latest Supply Chain Stability IndexSupply Chain Risk Management
- How GenAI Changed the Supply Chain and Retail Space ForeverTechnology
- North American Suppliers Struggling to Meet Demand – GEPSupply Chain Risk Management
- Top 100 Women 2024: Sheri Hinish, EY – No. 3Digital Supply Chain


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GM recalls 2.7 million more cars
General Motors announced a new recall of 2.7 million cars, bringing the total number of GM recalls to 11.2 million for the year. The biggest recall Thursday was for faulty wiring which could keep brake lights from working properly. Jeff Glor reports.
What to Read Next
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domain: news


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A competition organised by Warrington & Vale Royal College saw year 11 students across the Warrington & Vale Royal area win a range of fantastic prizes, including £300 worth of driving lessons!
In an attempt to boost morale amongst year 11 students sitting their GCSE examinations, the college delivered GCSE ‘Good Luck’ cards containing a unique competition code to its many applicants, with competition prizes including driving lessons, Beats headphones, Amazon Fire Tablets, Apple earphones and Love2Shop and Costa vouchers.
Lydia Crawshaw from The Winsford Academy won the top prize of £300 towards driving lessons. Lydia, who has applied to study Graphic Design at the college’s Winsford campus from September, commented: “It was really nice to receive a good luck card from the college – it gave me an extra boost of confidence. I was so surprised when I was told I’d won. I can’t wait to start driving lessons and my graphics course in September.”
The County High School Leftwich student, Imogen Davis, was the lucky winner of one of two Amazon Fire Tablets up for grabs. Imogen said: “I really never thought I’d win – I never win anything. It was such a great surprise to receive the good luck card the night before my GCSEs, and then to win is such a big surprise. I’m made up!” Imogen has applied to study Business Studies at the college’s Winsford campus from September.
Other lucky winners include Jake Watson from Weaverham High School, who won a pair of Beats headphones, and Elliott Duff from Warrington school Birchwood High won the second Amazon Fire Tablet.
Warrington & Vale Royal College is currently enrolling for school leaver and adult courses starting this September, to find out more, visit www.wvr.ac.uk.


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As of 9 p.m. ET NFL Network and NFL RedZone are no longer available to Dish and Sling TV subscribers. In a press release, the league said, “NFL Media remains committed to negotiating an agreement and has offered terms consistent with those in place with other distributors.”
Is the NFL Network still on?
Today, the streaming service announced that the channels are back. NFL Network and NFL RedZone are back on SLING! … Hosted by Scott Hanson, NFL RedZone provides live coverage of all the best NFL action from across the country and every touchdown from every game on Sunday afternoons during the NFL season.
How can I watch the NFL Network?
- Access the NFL App on Amazon Fire TV to stream NFL Network and NFL RedZone. …
- Access the NFL App on Apple TV to stream NFL Network and NFL RedZone. …
- Access the NFL App on Roku to stream NFL Network and NFL RedZone. …
- Access the NFL App on Android TV to stream NFL Network and NFL RedZone.
Did AT&T drop the NFL Network?
AT&T has dropped NFL Network and NFL Red Zone channels from its fiber TV service U-verse and skinny bundle service DirecTV Now, per Deadline. AT&T’s deals with the NFL quietly expired and the company hasn’t made any moves to renew them with the league. The channels remain on DirecTV, the satellite pay-TV service.
What TV providers have NFL Network?
You can access many NFL games without a cable subscription via several streaming services, like Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, FuboTV, YouTube TV, CBS All Access, and NFL Sunday Ticket.
How do I get NFL Network for free?
In 2020, there are more ways to live stream NFL games without cable than ever. Not only does the NFL offer free live streaming of its games on mobile devices via the NFL and Yahoo! Sports apps, but all of the major live TV streaming services in the United States now carry all of the networks that broadcast NFL games.
Who owns the NFL Network?
As of February 2015, NFL Network is available to approximately 71,867,000 pay television households in the United States (totaling 61.7% of U.S. households with at least one television set).
|Owner||National Football League|
|Sister channels||NFL RedZone|
|Launched||November 4, 2003|
Is NFL Network on Amazon Prime?
No, NFL Network is not on Amazon Prime. You can access the NFL App to watch NFL games on Amazon Fire.
How much does NFL Network cost?
NFL Game Pass lets you watch all the regular-season games for a one-time fee of $99. But you won’t be able to watch them live. NFL Game Pass costs $100 for the season. In addition, mobile apps are available for most streaming platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, PlayStation 4, Roku, and Xbox One.
Can you watch NFL Network on FireStick?
If you subscribe to NFL Network through your cable provider—or know someone who does—you can also watch via the official NFL app. Just download it from your streaming device of choice—Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, PS4, Roku, or Android TV—and then enter in your cable credentials when prompted.
Can I get NFL Network on AT&T TV?
With AT&T TV NOW (formerly DIRECTV NOW), you’ll get all the games on CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network. … The only games you won’t get are the exclusive Thursday Night Football games on NFL Network. If you want NFL Network and NFL RedZone, we suggest trying a Free Trial of fuboTV.
Does Hulu have NFL Network?
With a subscription to Hulu + Live TV, you can follow your favorite NFL pro football teams throughout the 2020 season, record their games, and access the live TV broadcasts aired on NBC, CBS, FOX, and ESPN — through all of your Live TV supported mobile and TV-connected devices.
Can I get NFL Sunday Ticket with AT&T TV now?
Are AT&T TV and AT&T TV NOW the same as NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV? No. NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV lets you stream live, out-of-market NFL regular season games every Sunday afternoon on a mobile device, computer, or connected streaming device.
Is NFL Network on YouTube TV?
NFL Media and YouTube TV today announced a new carriage agreement to bring NFL Network and NFL RedZone to YouTube TV subscribers just in time for Kickoff of the 2020 NFL season. NFL Network will be available starting today on YouTube TV as part of the base membership.
How much is NFL Network on Roku?
Channel is free to add and includes a limited number of videos plus schedules and scores. NFL GamePass is $99.99 with a free 7-day trial when subscribing through this link. NFL Network and Redzone require a subscription to a participating pay TV provider; see article above for details.
How much is NFL Network on Xfinity?
The digital starter packages cost $59.99 a month. On July 1, Comcast will discontinue the NFL Network on digital starter and make it available on its 220-channel “digital preferred” package, which costs $69.99 without a contract.


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Viking's Success Story
Ola Ree took over as the managing director of Grameen Phone
(GP) in 2000, the growth of the country's cell phone industry,
had "just started". In real terms this translated
to a modest subscriber-base of 100,000. Within four and a
half years of Ree's stint GP has been able to boast over two
million customers. The company's network, which before Ree's
arrival only covered a handful of cities, has now been widened
to 61 districts and 350 Upazilas. Ree, the Norwegian engineer
who has just ended his tenure in Bangladesh, gives a glimpse
into the strategies he and his dedicated team adopted to create
this unprecedented success.
ingredient to GP's remarkable growth, Ree believes, is its
wide coverage. From day one, he says, "we have been trying
to cover as many districts as possible". "We reached
out to the rural areas; started to cover all the cities and
as many districts as possible. That was the strategy,"
Ree explains. "If we construct a base-station in an extremely
remote area the capacity of that station is almost filled
up the next day," he says, "people, seeing us constructing
a tower, go to the market, buy a phone and check everyday
if the connection has come."
since its inception in March 26, 1997, in contrast to most
cellular phone service providers, who kept their service limited
only to major city dwellers, Grameen opted for building continuous
strategic decision that has put GP at the top is its pre-paid
service. When the company first introduced the service to
the local market in 2005, experts were sceptical about Easy
Pre-paid Service's success. At that time, many had considered
it a huge gamble as the concept of paying bills by using a
pre-paid card had failed to generate much enthusiasm in the
Indian, and most notably, in the Nepalese market. However,
Ree says, "For us it was not a gamble at all. We, Telenor,
have launched pre-paid service in all the fourteen countries
we operate. From a developing country like Ukraine to a developed
country like Norway, pre-paid remains a big success.
time pre-paid was a big thing in Bangladesh you know…Instead
of applying for a BTTB line, waiting in queue for years you
just walk into a shop, buy a mobile and within minutes, you
can call any phone in the country."
despite its huge success Grameen Phone is not immune to criticism.
Among them, the most scathing is the allegation of high tariff.
Though many believe that Bangladesh has the highest tariff
in the world, Ree thinks, "it is very much at par with
Asia except for some special packages that some Indian operators
have been offering". "Our list of costs is always
compared with Reliance India's 60-paisa package," he
continues. "But if I were an Indian buyer I would never
buy that package. First, it's 60-paisa for a Reliance India
subscriber to place a call and the person at the other end
has to be within a 50 kilometres range of the caller. If the
person you are calling is outside this range the rate is far
higher," he says.
are hidden costs to consider as well says Ree. In addition
to the start-up costs, Reliance India subscribers have to
pay additional 20,000 rupees to avail this facility. "Our
cheapest tariff is Taka two during night-time for GP post-paid
subscribers. But if you say that the per minute tariff of
any cell phone in Bangladesh is Tk 2 that will be wrong,"
from its special night-time tariff-rate for the prepaid subscribers,
the company has also launched a unique service called My Time.
Under this facility, the subscribers can pick two three-hour
time-slots and can call to another GP subscriber at a cheaper
biggest impediment, GP's outgoing MD believes, is the government's
lukewarm attitude towards private cellular phone service providers.
"If we had normal interconnection facility with the BTTB
and if we were given permission to provide land-phone connections,
prices would have certainly gone down from day one,"
you know, if any GP subscriber calls a BTTB number, we have
to pay BTTB the full price for that call. If I call my friends
in Norway from my cell, Grameen Phone has to pay the full
price to the BTTB for using its facility. But if somebody
calls me on my phone from Norway or any other country, through
BTTB's network, I get nothing. BTTB takes it all," he
is the only country I know, which has such an inter-connection
problem that is hindering the growth in this thriving sector
is the country's taxation policy. Unlike most of its neighbours,
Bangladesh has one of the highest import duties on telecom
equipment. "We have to pay a very high duty on the telecom
equipment we import for our base stations. It varies from
16 to 60 percent, whereas most of our neighbours, on the other
hand, maintain a zero-tax on its telecom sector," he
all the obstacles, GP, which is 55% owned by Telenor, has
remained an example of corporate success. On the eve of its
take off, the company has decided to go slow and to concentrate
more on widening its network coverage. "We are going
to invest more this year. And by the end of 2005 we will surely
cover the whole country," Ree promises.
fact, has decided not to jump on the much-hyped 3G bandwagon;
instead, the next big thing the company is going to introduce
is 2.5 Generation mobile phones. "It is the technical
phrase for GPRS, which is basically a type of high-speed data
communications service," Ree, who has been working with
Telenor for 27 years, explains.
system will transmit data at 160 Kilo Bytes Per Seconds (KBPS),
which is around 16 times faster than the usual than the current
data transmission rate. "It will enable our subscribers
to send photos instantly," Ree says. "We have already
launched this service in Malaysia," he continues, "and
most of our network in Bangladesh is technically prepared
experts, however, believe the company is going to face stiff
competition from Egyptian telecom giant Orascom Telecom which
has bought 100 percent of the country's beleaguered cellular
phone operator Sheba Telecom. But, Ree believes, competition
will help all the operators to improve their service as he
thinks every company's priority should be to satisfy it's
customers. "If we compete on a level playing field we
should not fear competition," Ola Ree says matter-of-factly.
always kept a low profile despite being a major change maker
in Grameen Phone's portfolio but he is quite frank about his
affinity for this country. "We (my wife and I) were very
sceptical about moving into Bangladesh as all we had heard
about the country was ferry capsize and flooding. After coming
here and seeing we have a very different impression."
Ree says what really impressed him about Bangladesh was the
positive attitude of people and their innate friendliness.
only regret is that I have to leave Bangladesh" says
Ree before flying off to his new job in Singapore.
Mehreen Amin and Ahmede Hussain
(R) thedailystar.net 2004


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We all know that 2020 was a big year for pharmaceutical companies, but it’s not just companies like Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson that had an active year.
Pharmaceutical brands and their ad tech partners were challenged to find new ways to reach buyers. As the industry went through a digital transformation, so did its advertising.
We encourage you to subscribe to our blog for the latest data surrounding the advertising industry. We will provide daily updates as COVID-19 continues to make its mark on the US economy.
AI-powered ad intelligence for medicine ramps up
The health industry has traditionally been slow to adopt new, digital technology because of strict regulations. However, COVID-19 forced the industry to lean into new tools in order to facilitate sales and patient engagement.
Talking Medicines recently released an AI-powered social intelligence tool, PatientMeRx. The ad intelligence platform gathers the comments of customers across social media, blogs, and forums, and connects the conversations to a curated database of over 130,000 regulated global medicines. It processes the data to give pharmaceutical companies feedback on the medicines.
“The pharmaceutical sector spends $30Bn on marketing each year in the US alone without really knowing if that investment is doing any good,” said Jo Halliday, CEO of Talking Medicines. “What we’re able to do with PatientMetRx is de-risk social data collection for pharma by offering arm’s length and agile data collection from wherever the patient is speaking and decoding it to align to medicines.”
Even though social listening has been used for many years across other industries, this type of tool is the first of its kind in the medical field.
Likewise, Xandr just announced a partnership with Lasso, as they develop a joint platform. The new platform allows pharma companies a way to efficiently market individual brands in the digital space.
“When we looked at the ecosystem, we saw that it was riddled with fragmentation, legacy technology, and companies taking outrageous margins,” reported Mike DiNorscio, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Lasso. “We’re here to change that. From RFP to ROI measurement, Lasso gives marketers every tool they need to do their job smarter, cut costs, and drive meaningful results, all within a single platform.”
He noted that with Xandr’s history of powerful technology, they can create a more clear and efficient media supply chain.
MediaRadar data reflects how strong the digital push is in the pharma space.
In 2021 so far, pharmaceutical spend in the B2B space is up 41% overall. This is heavily influenced by digital ad spend which increased 242% YoY (January-February 2020 vs 2021).
While the spend increased significantly, the number of brands remained flat YoY.
Meanwhile, print publications in the B2B space weren’t circulating in their usual way in 2020— negatively impacting the spend in this format. Print ad spend in the B2B space was down 11% YoY overall in 2020, which is an improvement from its lowest point (down 33% YoY in Q2 of 2020).
Print is still down this January and February by 23% ($10mm). It’s typical of pharma companies to buy less early in the year, but this decrease is likely caused by the increasing popularity of digital ad spend in the B2B space.
For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy.


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We've written about
China's remarkable ghost cities before and the supposed
64 million vacant properties and the
giant shopping mall that is 99% empty.
Australia's SBS Dateline filmed several ghost cities in a
stunning 15-minute documentary (via FT's Izabella Kaminska).
The satellite pictures weren't lying.
5 innovations in radiology that could impact everything from the Zika virus to dermatology
More "Digital Industry Insider" »
A new technology is being developed using just 1% of the finite resource needed for traditional MRIs
Available on iOS or Android


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Shares of Gap Inc. plummeted Friday, the day after the retailer reported a decline in its holiday season sales, including at stalwart brand Old Navy.
Its stock sank $3.83, or more than 14%, to close at $22.91 — its lowest price in almost four years. The San Francisco company is having a rough stretch: Shares are down nearly 47% from a year ago.
Net sales for the company decreased 4% to $2 billion in the five-week period that ended Jan. 2.
Sales were down across the company’s brands.
Old Navy sales were down 7%. That brand had been a bright spot during the 2014 holidays, when sales jumped 8%.
Jack Calandra, Gap senior vice president of corporate finance and investor relations, acknowledged the lower numbers Thursday in a sales and revenue call.
“Traffic continued to be challenging in December and was especially disappointing at Old Navy,” he said.
The results were not a shock. The apparel industry as a whole had a difficult holiday season, said Bridget Weishaar, senior equity analyst at Morningstar.
Macy’s also was among those with disappointing holiday sales. The season was warmer than expected, and that company’s chief executive attributed most of Macy’s decline to “shortfalls” in cold weather gear.
Old Navy in particular was coming off several good seasons, which had boosted results and made recent performances hard to top.
Simeon Siegel, senior retail analyst at Nomura Research, said Gap had warned investors all year that there would be challenges.
“To Gap’s credit, they’ve telegraphed very explicitly that they did not expect to do well with Gap brand this entire year,” he said.
Instead, the company has planned a spring collection that will deliver new products to customers.
Weishaar said the collection is spearheaded by a new designer and seems to incorporate more customer research into the clothing line but probably will still face challenges from the continued weak apparel environment.
“They have a lot riding on the first quarter,” she said.
For more business news, follow @smasunaga
MORE BUSINESS NEWS


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Intrepid Travel, a chief in sustainable tourism, has unveiled a new approach to reduce carbon emissions across its operations and journeys, like the elimination of flights below 90 minutes, in which possible, on its prime itineraries by upcoming year.
The company mentioned that about the earlier year it has also launched more than 40 small-carbon alternative tours, which includes new closer-to-dwelling adventures and walking and biking journeys in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. And it is switching out carbon-intense inclusions for additional sustainable functions on a number of its tours.
Associated: Intrepid’s new excursions: Upscale and socially responsible
“When decreasing our carbon footprint has been a precedence of our business for yrs, decarbonization is getting ever more central in our product or service design now. As an market, we have to seem beyond offsetting, advocacy and administrative green tactics to emphasis on where by we can have the most optimistic effect — our journeys,” mentioned James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Vacation.
“Given that the pandemic started, we’ve been passionately conversing about the have to have for the vacation market to rebuild by itself much more responsibly. Now, we’retaking motion.”
Amongst the modifications being applied to lower shorter flights, Intrepid mentioned it has traded out inner flights with higher-speed rail on the vast majority of its journeys in China. In Cambodia, the typical flight among Siem Enjoy and Phnom Penh has been replaced by a boat experience up the Tonle Sap River on a new 6-working day tour that also involves a a few-hour cultural tour from the disembarkation issue by to SiemReap.
Update: This report was current April 19 at 5:35 p.m. Japanese.


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Bought a new gadget on eBay? Almost half of insurance policies do not cover devices bought on the online auction site
Almost half of mobile and gadget insurance policies do not cover devices bought on eBay.
Research from Defaqto, which compares and rates different types of financial products, found that 42 per cent of policies will not pay out for lost, broken or stolen gadgets if they were bought from a second-hand auction site.
Insurance firm Captain Cover will protect phones only if they were bought new in the UK directly from a manufacturer, network provider, High Street or online store, excluding auction sites.
Recent research found 42 per cent of policies will not pay out for lost, broken or stolen gadgets if they were bought from a second-hand auction site
It will also cover refurbished phones bought directly from a manufacturer.
Other insurers such as Insurance2Go will cover mobile phones bought from eBay if they are brand new.
But you must have the original receipt showing the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) or serial number, plus the make and model of the phone.
One in five policies do not cover gadgets stolen from an unattended home or car.
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The crowded smartphone market in China is about to add another heavyweight player with industry experts anticipating further price wars among the key players.
Internet magnate Zhou Hongyi threw his hat into the smartphone ring on Wednesday and promised fans "exquisitely made" handsets that will surpass Xiaomi Corp both in quality and price.
"I understand selling smartphones in China is a red ocean market, actually it is an ocean full of blood," Zhou said. The red ocean is used to describe a market packed with players and one in which profit margins are wafer-thin.
"But I am entering the market anyway because I believe there is no market that cannot be overturned and the leaders will not be always on top," Zhou said.
The 45-year-old, who headed Yahoo China in the early 2000s, drove out Internet security firms that charge customers royalties by introducing free-of-charge anti-virus software products about a decade ago. Zhou's Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd accounts for the lion's share of the for-private-use free online security market.
His smartphone firm, named Qiku, is a joint venture with Coolpad Group Ltd, a major contract smartphone maker in China. The new brand will unveil three types of handsets running a tailored Android operating system as soon as next month.
"Our device will easily sell at 5,000 yuan ($800) on the market, but we will offer buyers a remarkably lower price," Zhou said, without giving details of the products.
The three handsets will each target low-, mid-and high-end markets with the lowest price tag at around 1,000 yuan, a Qiku employee familiar with the pricing strategy told China Daily.
Local handset vendors opt to lower prices in the highly competitive smartphone market to grab bigger market share, industry sources said.
Hours before Zhou announced the launch of the affordable devices, Xiaomi said it will lower the price of its flagship device Mi Note Pro by 300 yuan.
At a rival show put on by the Beijing-based mobile firm, Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun gave out free devices to reporters and said he has been trying to lower the price of the high-end Mi Note to maintain the company's lead in terms of market share. The original price for the device was 3,299 yuan.
Lei also indicated that Xiaomi's next focus will be in India and other emerging markets where the competition is not as fierce and no one wants a price war.
Wang Jingwen, a Shanghai-based analyst at Canalys China, said major Chinese vendors are facing the strongest headwinds in their home market since the smartphone boom began in 2011.
Wang said lower price is no longer the main criterion for Chinese smartphone buyers as customers have started to focus on user experience.
"Consumers are losing their appetite for ultra-low-cost devices, as expectations increase in line with spending power and－combined with rising market saturation－this is resulting in a major shift to devices that provide better user experience," she said.
But the price war is kicking off. Last month, online video company LeTV Holdings Co Ltd said its first-generation handsets, with a screen size similar to Apple Inc's iPhone 6 Plus, will "crush" Apple and Xiaomi because of low price and high performance.
The device is equipped with Qualcomm Inc's fastest mobile chip and is selling at 2,499 yuan, which is a fraction of the cost for the iPhone 6 series. LeTV said it received more than 2.6 million orders for its device less than two days after the online pre-sale started.


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SocialMiami Driver: Jaguar Electrifies
Featuring Valentina Shah
Clothing designer Valentina Shah – like many of us – has a bank of childhood memories. Growing up in Italy, with parents running a factory manufacturing for the likes of Gucci and Prada, her mom would pick her up in a Jaguar she remembers as “British green,” while her dad drove the family around in the same model but in a color of soothing blue.
“To me, Jaguar is a brand that resembles old world luxury,” says Shah. “It’s the classic car, the classic brand.”
Now that the luxury maker is unveiling its electric model, the Jaguar I-PACE electrical model, Shah says she couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel. The mom of two children — ages 2 years old and 4 years old — two years ago began designing her own brand of blazers that are now carried by some 50 specialty retailers. Both of those jobs — parenting and product creation — make the space of an SUV appealing. And concern for the planet on which she’ll raise her children means, to Shah, that cutting out gasoline consumption is a true bonus.
“I am big sponsor of sustainability,” says Shah. “I produce my blazers in a sustainable fashion and I am happy that jaguar is thinking forward with an electric vehicle. It’s great that you can have luxury, functionality and sustainability.”
We caught up with Shah at the Mana Convention Center Wynwood after she checked out all of the luxury car makers latest models — including the sporty convertibles — but test drove the I-PACE at the Jaguar Electrifies. Running until Sunday November 11th, Shah, as many guests will, experienced the electric ride on a timed and scored, closed-circuit SmartCone drive, which offers countless possible routes in one drive. In addition to an array of car models, the luxury car-maker proves it’s a master of taste when it comes to culinary matters. Michelle Bernstein Cantering, The Salty Donut, 222 Taco, and Crumb on Parchment will all be there with their own delicious offerings.
“The Electric Lounge,” meanwhile, is an attraction on its own. This area will feature cutting-edge products, such as robots and virtual reality experiences and digital picture frames. The 360 degree photo technology experience in a mirrored infinity room will have us leaving with electronic photos we can share on social media, and also a sperate spot for what promises to be the ultimate selfie.
Mana Wynwood Convention Center
318 NW 23rd St, Miami, FL 33127
Thursday, November 8, 10:00am-5:30pm
Friday, November 9, 9:00am-5:30pm
Saturday, November 10, 9:00am-5:30pm Late Night Lounge, 5:30pm-9:00pm (no drives offered during this time)
Sunday, November 11, 8:30am-4:30pm
For a test drive register here.
Photography by Aixa Holt


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Auckland, New Zealand, 2016-Nov-29 — /EPR Retail News/ — For some time now Foodstuffs has had works planned at New World Porirua to rectify ground issues created by last year’s floods. The planned works for the lower car park are scheduled for January 2017 and will be carried out by Hawkins Construction.
Following engineering advice after the recent earthquakes Foodstuffs has taken the precautionary decision to close the entry/exit to the car park from Walton Leigh Avenue and close the southern end of the car park reducing the top level parking availability at the store by approximately 22 parks – 134 car parks remain on the top level for customers shopping at New World Porirua in addition to the lower level car parks.
We can confirm entry and exit to the store car park will now be via the Lyttelton Avenue access ramp, and to ensure all customers are catered for temporary 45 minute car parking time limits have been put in place. This change is effective immediately.
The store has been cleared by engineers and remains open and its trading hours are unchanged. The store itself is unaffected. Customer safety is paramount and with the ongoing aftershocks the parking building is being checked regularly by engineers to ensure no further damage occurs.
“I appreciate this is a bit of a change for customers who are used to entering and exiting the store via Walton Leigh Ave,” says Tony McNeil, owner-operator, New World Porirua. “Post-earthquake we are taking a very cautious approach with the parking building but we are fortunately able to make the Lyttelton Ave access two-way which means customers can still enjoy the convenience of parking at the store.”
“I’d like to thank our customers in advance for their patience while we carry out the works on the car park,” adds Tony.
Tel: +64 4 472 6435
Fax: +64 4 472 6412
Source: Foodstuff NZ


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Mumbai: Aiming to provide innovative solutions, identify new business opportunities and create an environment congenial for growth, the much-awaited international technical textile event “TECHNOTEX India 2016” is all set to roll out its fifth edition in Mumbai from Thursday.
Organised jointly by the ministry of textiles and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the three-day event showcasing exhibitions, seminars and conferences will be held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon from April 21-23.
“It gives me immense pleasure to announce the 5th edition of Technotex 2016. We have made substantial growth over the last few years, with larger and successful participation from Indian and international fraternity,” said Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles, in a statement.
“We are hopeful of making Indian technical textile sector into one of the most promising sector around the world by its next edition,” the minister added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Gangwar will release “i A-TUFS” software and guidelines, “Textiles Compendium 2014-15”, standards, “Knowledge Report and Technotex 2016 Exhibition Directory” at the opening ceremony.
Expected to draw in over 150 exhibitors, the event will see participation from countries like Korea, Switzerland, Japan, the US, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Russia, Britain, Spain and others. It will also showcase the country pavilions from Taiwan and China.
While Gujarat and Karnataka are participating as partner states, the event will also have delegates from states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, among others.
Mumbai to host fifth edition of ‘Technotex India 2016’


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Amonix, a Seal Beach Solar panel manufacturer will use $9.5 million in economic stimulus money to build manufacturing plants in Nevada and Arizona, creating 436 jobs in those states.
Construction on the $5.9 million Nevada project will start by the end of 2010, and the $3.6 million Arizona work is scheduled to start in 2011.
Amonix designs and manufactures concentrated photovoltaic solar power systems that the company says require less wter, make better use of land and produce more energy per acre than other solar technology.
Amonix CEO Brian Robertson said, “We’re pleased and honored to have received an allocation under the tax credit program, and we will move quickly to expedite the creation of these 436 green jobs for the new economy.
Although these jobs are in other states, Amonix is still committed to California, Robertson said.
“We are expanding our manufacturing capacity with satellite facilities in Arizona and Nevada that are close to system deployments in hot and dry climates where CPV outperforms other solar technologies. We are definitely committed to California as our headquarters, which we anticipate expanding in the near term and over the next decade, and where we will continue to have manufacturing capability.”
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Our Regional Logistics Solution has launched with an ambitious target of collecting 780 tonnes of surplus over the next 12 months. This is in-date food that would not otherwise be redistributed because of a lack of logistics, capacity or time. Our bold new experiment is being run in partnership with WRAP & FareShare. Andy and Hannah will be working with an exclusive group of Food Partners to collect their surplus both regularly and ad-hoc to test the solution and capture its progress. The trial is sponsored by WRAP’s Waste Reduction Fund for innovative new solutions.
The vast majority of surplus occurs before food even gets to the supermarket. Each FareShare regional centre takes that food and redistributes to those in need. FareShare Go is our supermarket collection service, which deals with supermarket-level surplus.


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Sun, May 22, 2022
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DIGITIMES Anniversary Sale
Global EV sales and battery capacity
May 20, 17:56
NEWS TAGGED TESTING
Tuesday 17 May 2022
South Korea to start testing 5G-V2X projects in 2Q23
South Korea's 5G-V2X cooperative autonomous vehicle infrastructures and service research projects are now open for bids, according to Korean-language media ET News.
Monday 16 May 2022
The memory industry (6): When line between memory and logic IC becomes blurred
In 1984, Intel decided to exit the DRAM business, which marked the start of technology diversion between memories and logic IC. In hindsight, Intel's decision made sense. Memories...
Friday 6 May 2022
Taiwan DDI backend firms remain optimistic about 2Q22
Taiwan-based display driver IC (DDI) backend specialists ChipMOS Technologies and Chipbond Technology remain upbeat about their business prospects in the second quarter of 2022, despite...
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CHPT lands MEMS probe card orders from Asia-based customers
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MediaTek's testing partners including King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) and Sigurd Microelectronics, and IC test interface specialists, such as Chunghwa Precision Test Tech (CHPT), WinWay...
Friday 1 April 2022
ChipMOS, Chipbond to boost OLED DDI testing capacity by 15%
Taiwan-based display driver IC backend specialists including Chipbond Technology and ChipMOS Technologies plan to procure additional high-end testing equipment, mainly from Japan's...
Thursday 31 March 2022
FitTech steps into compound semiconductor testing equipment manufacturing
FitTech has extended product development and production from LED probing/testing and sorting equipment to compound semiconductor wafer testing equipment and has developed 6-inch GaN...
Tuesday 29 March 2022
Testing houses see customers turn cautious
Dedicated testing houses including Sigurd Microelectronics and King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) have seen their customers increasingly adopt a wait-and-see attitude towards order commitments...
Monday 28 March 2022
TSMC says production unaffected by COVID lockdown in Shanghai
China has started locking down Shanghai in two phases for mass Covid-19 testing starting today (March 28) amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections. TSMC and other Taiwan-based...
Friday 25 March 2022
MediaTek sees macro factors challenging in 2022
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Tuesday 8 March 2022
GF announces next-gen silicon photonics solutions
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Tuesday 22 February 2022
Fusion Worldwide acquires electronic component testing center in Singapore
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Tuesday 22 February 2022
Apple reportedly conducts 2nd-phase EVT for upcoming AR headset
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Tuesday 15 February 2022
KYEC reiterates sales outlook for 1Q22
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Friday 4 February 2022
Toshiba regards Thailand as manufacturing hub of discrete semiconductors
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Friday 3 March 2017
AMD Ryzen processor
AMD has released the first three models of its next-generation high-performance AMD Ryzen desktop processor. Ryzen is the first processor based on the entirely new AMD Zen core microarchitecture, bringing multi-core performance for PC gamers, creators, and hardware enthusiasts. Starting today there are three 8-core Ryzen 7 models available. Beginning in the second quarter of 2017, AMD expects to launch 6- and 4-core Ryzen 5 processors followed later this year by Ryzen 3, which is designed to bring more performance to mainstream applications. All Ryzen processors support the new AM4 infrastructure, with motherboard designs becoming available from major players. Alongside Ryzen 7 processors, AMD also announced the product specifications for two Ryzen 5 processors, and demonstrated the flagship Ryzen 5 1600X outmatching Intel's flagship Core i5 7600K by more than 60% in multi-threaded CPU testing.
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First-of-its-kind E-commerce Packaging Test Will Help Reduce Direct-to-consumer Shipment Damage
The International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), the leading industry developer of pre-shipment performance testing standards for packaged products, today released a new testing protocol that will allow companies to simulate the many hazards encountered when product orders are shipped directly to consumers through the e-commerce retailer fulfillment systems employed by companies like Amazon.com, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, The Home Depot and more.
The new testing protocol, called ISTA 3L, is a generalized e-commerce retailer fulfillment test developed and approved through ISTA’s American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standards development process. The development process, led by the ISTA Standards Council, leveraged the combining of data from relevant testing protocols and laboratory results, observational data collected within multiple retailer fulfillment locations and broad industry feedback.
The test provides stakeholders across the supply chain an opportunity to anticipate, design, and prepare for the impacts of transit hazards (vibration, shock, compression, temperature and humidity) on packaged products in direct-to-consumer shipments. This is especially essential for home delivery as damage in transit will ultimately be received by the customer, negatively impacting consumer experience and brand equity. Damage in transit is also a worst-case sustainability outcome since both the product and package become waste. This is estimated to be five to 30 times more than the environmental impact of packaging, depending on the product. Damage prevention also reduces unnecessary extra shipments due to returns and replacements.
E-commerce sales account for 22% of total retail sales and are forecasted to reach $5.4 trillion this year, according to Morgan Stanley. Accenture projects a 169% increase in e-commerce purchases from new or low-frequency online shoppers post-pandemic and expects a majority of those consumers to continue doing so in the future. In 2021, there were 159 billion parcels shipped worldwide (about 5,000 parcels shipped every second), and that number is projected to rise to 256 billion parcels by 2027, according to Pitney Bowes.
“We are witnessing a business paradigm shift towards the digital economy,” said A.J. Gruber, ISTA president and CEO. “While some of this shift was accelerated due to the pandemic, it’s also driven by other factors like investment into unified commerce platforms and logistics to support them, the rise in spending power for Generation Z, and increased global access to technology like connected mobile devices.”
With a focus towards speed, retailers have continued to invest in their delivery chain logistics. Amazon now delivers over 70% of its own packages. Target recently announced it will invest $100 million to add six new package-sorting centers in a push to expand its next-day delivery capabilities. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart and Home Depot are hoping to capitalize on their large store networks to compete with Amazon and get product to shoppers’ homes in quick fashion. Many large retailers are now pulling inventory from in-store environments and shipping them to consumers doors.
“This massive shift in the retail supply chain journey means that companies need to do more to ensure a positive experience for the end customer,” said Eric Hiser, ISTA vice president for standards and certification. “Product damage during the shipping process ultimately impacts brand perception, sustainability efforts and the bottom line.”
During transport, every touch point (places where a package changes over to another entity to move) increases risks of product damage. Traditional brick-and-mortar retail has seven to nine touch points on average. The e-commerce supply chain disrupts this traditional journey, resulting in longer transit legs and more touches for packaged products as they travel to their ultimate destination: the doorstep of a consumer. Direct shipments to the consumer often involve 20 or more touch points, creating new design hurdles for many product and packaging designers.
“The new ISTA 3L testing protocol will help e-commerce retailers and their partners across the supply chain in understanding and simulating the hazards experienced with shipping products directly to customers,” said Chris Phan, ISTA Standards Council Chair and Packaging Technical Program Manager with Meta. “The 3L testing protocol is conducted in a laboratory and tests the package performance during vertical and horizontal compressions, vibrations, and varying height drops.”
Since 2019, ISTA has invested nearly $2 million into research to better understand the hazards found in the transport of products around the world, including studies in India, Europe, China, the U.S. and spans across sea, rail, full-truckloads, and parcel. There are currently 22 ISTA testing standards covering different applications, package types, distribution modes and products.
ISTA’s more than 1,100 corporate members are located in 45 countries and includes over 650 certified testing labs, 400 leading brand owners, 300 packaging suppliers, and 300 research and academic institutions and students.
For more information about the new ISTA 3L testing protocol for e-commerce retailers, visit ista.org.


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With the first wave of Apple Watch buyers awaiting the shipment of their devices, marketers are starting to ask how smartwatches will fit into the marketing ecosystem that other mobile devices have created.
A new study from Juniper Research suggests they need not be worried, with advertising spend on smartwatches expected to reach $68.6m (£46.9m) by 2019, up from an estimated $1.5m this year.
The research suggests that growth will be fuelled by brands like Apple entering the smartwatch market, increasing public awareness of and interest in the wearable sector, and increasing consumer affinity with the devices.
The emergence of an additional consumer screen is likely to stimulate interest amongst advertisers, providing them with a new way to engage with consumers that forms a natural part of their everyday life, but until a critical mass of users is built up, most campaigns will likely be ad hoc and targeted at hi-end audiences.
However, the research noted the need for brands to being working now on devising and implementing new formats that will cater for the smaller screen size of the smartwatch, echoing the transition from desktop to mobile advertising.
The rise of programmatic will also be a driver of smartwatch ad spending, as the wider digital advertising sphere becomes more and more essential to marketing efforts and central in advertising strategies.


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Del-Nat Tire Corp. announced the launch of the Sentinel line of passenger and light truck tires. Del-Nat’s Sentinel brand will be available in touring and ultra high performance passenger tires. Additionally, the Sentinel AT and Sentinel HT will complete the lineup during the first quarter of 2013.
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- 2 min read
Indians in planning mode for winter weddings: 62% increase in demand for destination weddings
Wedding Planning queries up by 30 percent in H1 2021 for the Sept-Dec 2021 period vis a vis last year
WeddingWire India, the Indian subsidiary of The Knot Worldwide released statistics on how Indians are planning for weddings in the new normal. As one of the fastest-growing and trusted wedding technology platforms, WeddingWire India saw a 30 percent jump in queries in H1 2021 for vendor services vis a vis last year. The statistics showcase increased interest in planning and scheduling weddings in the Sept-Dec 2021 period. The demand for destination weddings has gone up by 62percent with Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur being the top 3 choices.
As per the data, venues were the top enquired service at 50 percent followed by photographers (13%) and Make-Up (9%). As compared to tier 2 cities, major cities and metros reported 79% enquiries with more tech-savvy consumers. While Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore landed in the top 3, the company also saw demand for these services from cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Udaipur, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Goa, and Kerala.
Commenting on the trends, Ankur Sarawagi, India Country Head - The Knot Worldwide, said, “There is no doubt that the pandemic has been a challenging time for the wedding industry. However, we saw a shift in user behavior, new trends emerged. Couples started looking at intimate weddings and adopting tech innovations to plan their weddings. Hence, as an agile company, we enabled 60,000+ vendors and service providers to adapt. Our expertise in tech and vision to empower couples with access to every wedding service professional at one platform and within the comfort of their homes has enabled us to deliver during these unprecedented times. These numbers solidify our belief that the industry will soon be able to bounce back.”
The data also highlighted that when it comes to wedding planning, the bride inevitably takes the lead with ~2X more enquiries as compared to the groom. Interestingly, while both Bride and Groom agreed that venue was the most important decision to make, their second choice was make-up and photography, respectively.


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Passbase biometric identity verification chosen by Las Vegas Pride to increase community safety
Passbase’s biometric identity verification technology has been chosen by Nevada-based non-profit organization Las Vegas Pride to help advance its digital transformation and enhance community members’ safety, the company announced.
The no code technology developed by Passbase will secure the privacy of participants in age restricted events through face biometrics-based age verification and ID proofing.
“We decided to go with Passbase for two reasons – because it’s easy to integrate and it allows us to avoid storing personal information,” said Steven Othar, adult programming coordinator at Las Vegas PRIDE, in a prepared statement. “We don’t need to store it; we just need to make sure that someone is over 18. We might have been able to use another company, but we never would have gotten that technology up and running because doing that involves employing specialized help. After discovering Passbase our tech guru (Julia at JIV Studio) asked us to use it noting that it would be the easiest solution to get up and running with.”
“We’re building the infrastructure of trust and are thrilled to be helping PRIDE,” said in the announcement Mathias Klenk, CEO and co-founder of Passbase. “Our mission is to build the trust layer of the internet which transcends to the physical world as well. We want to contribute to making societies more inclusive and diverse and we’re humbled to know that with Passbase, PRIDE will be able to maintain and grow their community while undergoing digital transformation.”
In June, Passbase launched a codeless biometric identity verification solution to enable fast adoption of face recognition for online checks without taking up developer resources. It recently appointed industry veteran Dan Lee as Vice President of Sales to drive business development and sales operations globally with a focus on fintech and medtech.


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Peek inside new convenience stores to uncover the best in retail store design across North America.


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Graphics processing drives automotive semiconductor growth
May 30, 2012 // Christoph Hammerschmidt
Dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs) are forecast to become increasingly prevalent in automotive instrument clusters and infotainment systems according to market research company IMS Research. This uptake of technology and the associated silicon will drive semiconductor revenue growth, with the combined instrument cluster and infotainment semiconductor market reaching an estimated $8 billion by 2018, according to a study recently published by IMS
There is a trend towards more liquid crystal display (LCD) screens for infotainment head units and purely digital instrument clusters as production costs decrease. Some vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are choosing dedicated GPUs to display complex images like Google Earth Live or 3D representations of the vehicle on the instrument cluster. Around the GPU, there will be other silicon including 32-bit microcontrollers, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) etc.
NVIDIA's Tegra platform is already found in several premium vehicles, to provide dedicated graphics processing. “The Tegra platform is a complete SoC which uses an embedded ARM CPU with a GeForce GPU for audio, video and imaging; making it a whole multimedia centre,” explains IMS Research Automotive Market Analyst Ben Scott.
Consumer habits and opinions are also driving this trend. “There is a huge demand for vehicle manufacturers to recreate the experiences that consumers receive from their phones. This fast multimedia experience with interactivity and apps is something that requires significant processor horsepower,” adds Scott.
According to the study "The World Market for Semiconductors in OEM Automotive Electronic Systems – 2012 Edition", these types of GPUs are expected to move into C-segment vehicles within the next five years, but are quite costly to the OEM. However, these highly powerful SoCs can also be used for driver assistance, negating the need for a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), for example, which saves cost.
For more information visit www.imsresearch.comAll news
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This month, Arrow Electronics is giving away ten BeMicro Max 10 FPGA evaluation boards together with an integrated USB-Blaster, each package being worth 90 Euros, for EETimes Europe's readers to win.
Designed to get you started with using an FPGA, the BeMicro Max 10 adopts Altera's non-volatile MAX 10 FPGA built on 55-nm flash process.
The MAX 10 FPGAs are claimed to revolutionize...MORE INFO AND LAST MONTH' WINNERS...
December 15, 2011 | Texas instruments | 222901974
Unique Ser/Des technology supports encrypted video and audio content with full duplex bi-directional control channel over a single wire interface.


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While marketers realize the importance of mobile, many of them have yet to catch up with consumer expectations , or realize how SEO and mobile impact one another.
Google has introduced new tools and features to AdWords to specifically address the consumer shift towards mobile.
Over the past couple of weeks, Google has been spotted introducing some interesting changes to the look and layout of its search ... read more
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Google has this week revealed its annual report on how it has policed the internet over the last 12 months. Or at ... read more
How can your email campaigns get an 88% open rate and a 68% click-through rate? There’s only one way I know: build ... read more


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While Google Maps as already vastly simplified travel now it is allowing users even more ease by letting them pay for parking or public transit straight from the app.
Now, Google Maps accounts can be linked with Google Pay wallets so that users can make transportation related payments with out exiting the app. Since users are bypassing traditional payment methods like parking meters or ticket machines people can save time. Also, many will appreciate a touchless transaction during the pandemic.
These new features are just part of a set of recent updates to Google Maps which is more and more becoming a place to do more than just get directions. Recently, verified businesses can message customers inside the app. In September the app also added a feature that measures the prevalence of Covid-19 in a particular area.
Google partnered with Passport and ParkMobile to give Google Maps users access to parking meters through the app. When people navigate to a location they will be prompted to pay for parking directly in the app.


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Two days before opening up, the Nguyen Hue Blossom Street, a top tourist destination during the Tet vacation, is populated with colorful floral plans and 70 sculptures of pet cats in different dimensions.
Nguyen Shade Blossom Road in Area 1, among the largest annual attracts Vietnam’s southern metropolis during the Lunar New Year holiday, is virtually all set after half a month of hard work.
This year, the 600-meter-long road is set up to open up to the general public from 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Year of the Cat begins this Sunday, but Vietnamese begin appreciating their seven-day Tet break from Friday.
A mommy pet cat as well as her kittens are surrounded by a spot of colorful flowers at the section near the HCMC Individuals’s Board head office.
Unlike in previous years, the mascot is no more the family reunion photo at the entryway of the flower street.
Instead, a five-meter-tall mommy cat model rests there upright, its tail is twisted around it’s back as if it is protecting its cubs.
The mascots are made of foam and also are painted in different colors.
A cat couple, 4.5 m as well as 5.5 m high, are covered with tarpaulins to eliminate the dirt as employees remain in a rush to finish the decorations in time.
The design recreates the normal Vietnamese calico feline, a residential feline with a tri-color layer.
Pet cats with calico coloration are believed to bring best of luck in the mythology of numerous societies.
Throughout the blossom street, there are 70 cat mascots of numerous shapes and sizes made from various materials such as foam, iron, terracotta as well as fresh flowers.
Aware is a three-meter-tall cat version, produced by a combination of iron, foam and eco-friendly sawdust.
A Chibi-style cat with distinctive big eyes.
A design of three pet cats viewing a college of fish.
As in previous years, the blossom street uses eco-friendly and also reusable products such as metal, foam, rattan, bamboo, block and also material.
This year notes the 20th anniversary of the flower road, which took place to become one of the city’s visitor signs throughout the Tet vacation.
There will be a scene this year including statuaries of mascots that have actually shown up on the blossom road over the past two decades.
One of the highlights of this year’s blossom road is a 30-meter-long wood bridge going across a blossom bed.
Greater than 100 employees are active preparing flowers in various scenes, attaching the electric system as well as cleaning up toilet facilities.
“This is the 13th year I have joined in enhancing the Nguyen Tone Blossom Road, mostly pruning trees and also watering flowers,” said Tran Ngan Tuan, 50, while watering flowers.
The Flower Road will be open up until next Thursday, the fifth day of the initial lunar month.


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While we’re still waiting for Google and Samsung to officially introduce the Nexus Prime (this will happen tonight), NTT DoCoMo has announced on Twitter that it’s going to be among the first carriers to offer the new smartphone.
Reportedly, the largest Japanese mobile operator will sell the Google Nexus Prime starting November. And that’s all that the carrier has unveiled.
DoCoMo didn’t provide any photos of the Nexus Prime, but it did show images of the already-seen Samsung Galaxy S II LTE, another new Android smartphone that it’s going to launch “in November or December”:
You can see DoCoMo’s Galaxy S II LTE here. As for the Nexus Prime, we’ll bring more details about it as soon as it’s finally presented by Google and Samsung.
If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:
- Google Nexus Prime to bring Android Ice Cream Sandwich in October?
- GSM Samsung Google Nexus Prime GT-I9250 hits the FCC. Headed to Europe?
- Samsung Galaxy Nexus II, LG Optimus Nexus, and Sony Xperia Nexus all coming this year?
- Samsung Galaxy Nexus (not Droid Prime) with LTE shows up in Verizon’s system
- Samsung’s Google Nexus Prime likely headed to Canada


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CIMB clicks with Octo
Malaysia - In line with its recently launched campaign themed "Click with Octo" to drive usage and acquisition, financial services brand, CIMB Bank has executed a digital push across various online platforms.
Running for a six-month period beginning April 2011, a series of online banners are currently being featured on sites such as Yahoo!, MSN Malaysia, Star Online, Malaysiakini, and Malaysian Insider.
The primary target audience consists of current CIMB account holders who actively transact online while the secondary audience segment comprises those seeking to open an account with the bank. Both categories are granted access to a host of online games which allows them the opportunity to win prizes.
Vizeum is the media agency on the exercise with IF Interactive behind all creative and digital executions.
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- CIMB Bank
- Vizeum Malaysia
- IF Interactive
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The banking sector’s plan to merge eftpos, BPAY and NPP Australia into a single payment system has come under fire by small business groups, which say it will ultimately lead to higher fees for businesses.
In a bid to better compete against international players such as Visa and Mastercard, Australian banks are calling for a unified electronic payments system.
Led by NPP Australia, the banking sector argues that a single system is in the public interest because it would allow for faster payments and new payments functionalities.
What’s the payment scheme merger?
Announced in December last year, the merger would see the banks create a unified payments system to help boost their competitiveness in the debit-payments market.
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The merger was proposed by NPP Australia, which is mutually owned by 13 organisations including major Australian banks and the RBA. NPP Australia is responsible for the New Payments Platform that was launched in 2018 to improve the processing times of electronic funds transfers.
The idea was first put forward by RBA governor Philip Lowe as early as December 2019, following a review into Australia’s regulatory framework for electronic payments.
Since then, Treasury established its own review, led by King & Wood Mallesons partner Scott Farrell, who will provide the final report to the government by April this year.
Treasury is examining the regulatory architecture of the national payments system to ensure it is capable of supporting new trends in the sector while benefiting consumers, businesses and the economy.
Why are SME groups against it?
Small business groups, which oppose the merger, say it will erode competition and lead to higher prices for small business merchants accepting card payments.
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) described the proposal as “a smokescreen for monopoly”.
“In our opinion, it will push up costs, and also there won’t be as much need for the big companies to innovate and develop better payment systems because they’ll all be merged,” COSBOA chief executive Peter Strong tells SmartCompany.
In its review submission, COSBOA asked Treasury to consider which businesses stand to benefit from the unified payment system.
“This is about protection of profits rather than the development of competition to the benefit of consumers and small businesses,” COSBOA wrote.
COSBOA’s criticisms of the payments scheme were echoed by other small business groups, such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
ACCI said its members were “very concerned” about the consolidation of a single payments platform, which is scheduled to take effect by mid-next year.
“There is risk that the new governance structure may provide a strong incentive to shift more payment costs onto merchants,” the ACCI wrote in its submission.
The proposal to merge BPAY, eftpos and NPP Australia is currently under consideration by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.


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ATD Group, UK’s SRAM, and MRAM to foray into the Indian EV segment, invest Rs. 100 crore
Noida-based diversified entity, ATD Group, and UK's SRAM & MRAM Group, a public health emergency management solutions enterprise have announced their plans to invest Rs 100 crore for their venture into electric mobility in India through a joint venture, Canopus.
As part of the plans, Canopus will launch four electric two-wheeler models -- Aurora, Scarlett, Colette, and Valeria -- in March this year, which will be imported initially from Malaysia, a statement said.
The two partners have marked an investment of Rs 100 crore in the EV segment from January 2022 to March 2023 in a phased manner, where Rs 35 crore each will be invested in the first and the second phases, and the remaining Rs 30 crore is planned to be invested in the third phase.
Canopus stated it has set up an R&D centre in Ahmedabad and from April 2022 onwards it will start producing its electric scooters from its production unit in Rajasthan, which will have an initial production capacity of 18,000 units a month. The investment in these two facilities is around Rs 15 crore.
Of the total Rs 100 crore investment, 90 percent will be conveyed by the SRAM & MRAM Group and the rest by ATD Group.
''We are sure of advancing into this new segment (EV) very successfully and helping a huge population to adopt this new technology. The tie-up (with ATD) will provide a portfolio of varied solutions that would help the electric vehicle segment in the existing market with comprehensive customer-centricity,'' SRAM & MRAM Group Chairman Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani stated.
ATD Group Chairman Manoranjan Mohanty said apart from supporting the 'Make in India' initiative through the production of electric two-wheelers, the group will also offer charging stations.
Canopus said plans to involve private garage owners and roadside mechanics to re-skill them so that they can service electric scooters.


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Thunder in the Valley: Bigger and better event this summer
Last updated 5/25/2021 at 1:45pm | View PDF
By G. Connor Salter
After a year off due to COVID, a popular Fountain car show will return in July. Started in 2004, the Thunder in the Valley Car Show has grown into a two-day event in July that includes car contests, exhibits, food and other activities, with the proceeds going to Fountain Valley Scholars. Aaron Twite, president of the show, explained that due to COVID regulations, the 2020 Thunder in the Valley show was canceled. However, the group was still able to get some money from their regular sponsors.
"They were generous enough to still donate, and when we called them to see if they wanted the money back, they just said 'no,' [and to] use toward the groups that we donate to," Twite said.
Thanks to reduced regulations, the Thunder in the Valley Car Show will return this year. The show will be held at Metcalfe Park, 4-5 p.m. on July 9 (the usual Friday Night Cruise around Fountain will start at 5 p.m.) and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on July 10 (gates opening at 7 a.m. that day). People will be able to see local cars displayed, enjoy food from local vendors, and enjoy the annual Thunder Muffler Rap Contest, which awards a prize to the car with the loudest muffler. Since the 2020 show was canceled and the group wants to raise as much money as possible, the plan is to make this year a particularly sensational show.
"We're just trying to go as big as possible," Twite said. "We do have more vendors this year, as far as food vendors and stuff like that. We're unable to do our silent auction that we normally do, but we are trying to basically raise as much as we possibly can, so we can help Dollars for Scholars."
The vendors will include Tuns of Fun Hot Dogs, Chef Bob's Lobstah Trap Food Truck and Kona Ice. Peaks N Pines Brewery will also donate root beer and cream sodas for the event, and the Fire Department Auxiliary will barbecue hamburgers.
While regulations have been reduced, Twite emphasized that the show will follow health regulations to keep everyone safe.
"Whatever we are mandated to do is what we are going to be doing," Twite said. "Right now, it does not look like we're going to be too restricted. We will still practice social distancing just like at any event that we do. We will have medical staff there, the fire department is right down the street... We will also have the local PD coming through just to do the standard checking."
Over the years, the Thunder in the Valley Car Show has raised over $30,000 for Fountain Valley Scholars, and Twite hopes that this year's event will top previous records.
"Our best year was $13,000; we would like to hit $15,000, but we also know that a lot of businesses were hurt last year due to COVID," Twite said. "We'll do our best to hit our goal, but at the same time we also understand where other businesses stand."
To find out more about the show, including how to register a car for the show, check out the group's Facebook page, facebook.com/ThunderInTheValleyCarShow, or their website, thunderinthevalleyshow.com. To find out more about Fountain Valley Scholars, which awards scholarships to local high school graduates, go to fountainvalleyscholars.wordpress.com.


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What does the US$50b deal of AMD, Xilinx mean to the chip industry?
- With the Xilinx acquisition, AMD will be able to increase its breadth in key markets like data centers where Xilinx has a strong network.
- It will be beneficial for AMD’s AI presence as well as in the 5G communications, automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense markets.
- The combined company will have more than 15,000 engineers and a completely outsourced manufacturing strategy that relies heavily on TSMC.
In October 2020, Advanced Micro Devices Inc or more commonly known as AMD inked a US$35 billion deal to buy Xilinx Inc., a maker of programmable chips used in systems ranging from data center servers to satellites. The deal was made to buy AMD a foothold in many parts of the chip market where it currently doesn’t have as big a presence, especially the data center segment.
Some 16 months later, the deal finally went through and AMD, a semiconductor designer purchased Xilinx for US$50 billion, a record chip industry deal. The transaction, considered as the biggest in AMD’s history, met all the various regulatory approval it needed to happen.
According to Reuters, the deal’s value climbed to about US$50 billion from US$35 billion because AMD’s share price increased substantially since the acquisition was first announced. Coincidentally, the closing of the deal comes on the heels with Nvidia Corp’s decision to abandon its plans to buy SoftBank-owned Arm Ltd–it was meant to be the biggest semiconductor merger of all time.
What would this deal mean for AMD and Xilinx?
AMD’s CEO Lisa Su told Reuters that between AMD’s processor technologies and Xilinx’s system on chips and field programmable chips, the two businesses are complementary. “That was our focus in talking to the regulatory authorities across the world,” Su said, adding that Arm was an important partner for AMD but declined to say more about Arm’s possible next steps.
Additionally, with the Xilinx acquisition, Su said AMD will be able to increase its breadth in key markets like data centers where Xilinx has a strong network and AI presence, as well as in the 5G communications, automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense markets. “Those are all markets that AMD has had very little presence in and they all need high performance computing as well,” she added.
Besides the Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for which it’s best known, Xilinx also makes chips that are used to power 5G cell towers. It is coincidentally an area where AMD rival Intel Corp. has also sought to increase its presence. Intel in 2020 introduced several processors with specialized networking features designed for carriers.
“The acquisition of Xilinx brings together a highly complementary set of products, customers and markets combined with differentiated IP and world-class talent to create the industry’s high-performance and adaptive computing leader. Xilinx offers industry-leading FPGAs, adaptive SoCs, AI engines and software expertise that enable AMD to offer the strongest portfolio of high-performance and adaptive computing solutions in the industry, ”Su said in a statement.
Since the acquisition is complete, AMD said it is turning the chipmaker into a new business unit dubbed the Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group, or AECG for short. The unit will be led by former Xilinx CEO Victor Peng. The combined company has more than 15,000 engineers and a total addressable market that is expected to reach US$135 billion next year, Su stated.
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